Fair Memories

Jumping for Joy It was 45 years ago that I was chosen to be the first Queen out of Deanburn Primary School I still remember everything so vividly. We were all taken into the dinner hall, I remember the bright...

"Where to Begin" Where to begin? It was 1996 and I was working at Barnardo’s Family Centre at Cadzow, my two children were at the Academy and I felt that I was no longer needed for them to enjoy the...

. The Year I Will Never Forget Queen Andrea Robertson On the 19th of January 2017 I went into school like any other normal day, however it turned out to be anything other than normal as we were soon told that it...

. "From the Balcony" Frank McGarry As a lad I went to St Mary’s and when I look back at old school photographs I still find it hard to believe that I had around forty class mates. Maybe this is why I...

When I arrived in Bo’ness Public after the Easter holidays in April 1983, my first encounter with the then Headteacher, Cathy Andrews was a rather ‘frosty’ one, on account of me turning up at 8.58 thinking I had a...

I remember being taken to school that sunny Friday morning in 1970.  As I skipped along Braehead wearing my new dress and shoes I was completely unaware I was about to be gripped by a ‘fever’ I would never...

"Hail Smiling Morn" When asked to pen my memories of my involvement in The Fair, I was a bit reluctant.   Where to begin?   Then the line from a song came to me “start at the very beginning.” Of course, I had...

In 1965 Rev Norman Swan came to Bo’ness as Minister of Carriden Church.   Norman Swan loved history and tradition and at the same time was forward thinking and open to new ideas. Talking with Charles Snedden, Provost of Bo’ness...

Bo’ness has a lot of history and one of the most vibrant things that we can never forget is the Bo’ness Fair. For many years the Fair has grown. You would have thought eventually it would die off but...

As I sit down to write this article for the 2015 Bo’ness Children’s Fair Festival, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and everything in the garden is starting to grow. Buds are on the trees and flowers...